


Respect me for who I am, not what I'm labelled as

by cbtothekk



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Akashi Seijuurou is a Dork, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Body Dysphoria, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Multi, Platonic Relationships, Protective Generation of Miracles, Slight Transphobia, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, trans Kuroko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 14:52:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14750978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cbtothekk/pseuds/cbtothekk
Summary: He had nothing against females, they were lovely. But he wasn’t female, and he was getting sick of being called one.A story in which Kuroko is a trans male (ftm), and his struggle of starting middle school.





	Respect me for who I am, not what I'm labelled as

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer- I am not trans, nor am I very close to anyone who is trans. I am sorry if this portrays trans people incorrectly, I tried to make it as accurate as possible, but also in character for Kuroko. I will say that I am not cis, and do wear a binder most days, and I do have a few acquaintances that are trans. I also used some website referencing to help me out in this. If you pick out any mistakes, please do let me know.  
> Enjoy!  
> <3

Kuroko was a boy. Not a girl, not a dyke or a butch, or a lesbian of any sort. He was a boy, and it didn’t matter what gender he preferred.

He had had his fair share of teasing and too-curious acquaintances in the past two years, he was pretty good at not letting it get to him anymore. As Kuroko pulled his binder over his chest, he breathed deeply, before he wouldn’t be able to anymore, today would be difficult.

Kuroko was starting middle school today, and he was _not_ looking forward to it. You see, Kuroko had many old classmates that were attending the same prestigious school as him, Teiko Middle School. You could say he was more than a little nervous.

His class mates hadn’t taken it well when he transitioned from Tetsumi-chan, to Tetsuya-kun. Many of them flat-out refused to use his preferred pronouns, and some weren’t even sure they knew a Tetsuya. Kuroko was grateful for his lack of presence in times like those, he would much rather not be known than be referred to as something he wasn’t. And he wasn’t a she. He had nothing against females, they were lovely. But he just _wasn’t female,_ and he was getting sick of being called one.

Kuroko was glad that his favourite binder was washed and clean, it could get quite smelly after wearing it all week. This one matched his skin tone, and it would hardly be visible underneath the Teiko uniform, a light blue button up. Kuroko sighed, his face was too soft. His arms were flabby and his hips were too wide. Maybe if he joined the basketball team, like he promised Ogiwara, he could build up some muscle? That would be nice.

Ogiwara was the only person who stayed by Kuroko’s side after he came out. He didn’t understand much at first, but Kuroko was just happier that he even tried to understand. Noone else wanted to put in the effort.

Kuroko smiled, his clothes were just baggy enough to hide his curves. He looked like a real boy. And he was, no matter what anyone else said.

 

-

 

He made it into the basketball team, third-string. He was disappointed in himself, but that was okay. He just had to try even harder.

After many weeks of training hard and doing his best, he was still stuck in the third-string. Would he never make it out of it? His coach even encouraged him to quit, that he should join one of the female teams and maybe he’d feel more comfortable.

Kuroko wanted to cry. He did.

At least he’d made a friend. His name was Aomine Daiki. The first time they met, Aomine had called him by the correct pronouns. Kuroko had felt a burst of happiness when Aomine addressed him as a boy. One night while Aomine and Kuroko were practising in the gym, a few of Aomine’s first-string teammates came looking for him. Apparently, they walked home together often.

Kuroko’s teammates never offered to walk home with him.

That was the night he had met Akashi Seijuurou. He was blunt, but maybe Kuroko was just being sensitive, he had had a rough night.

He gave Kuroko a hint, dangled an idea in front of him. It was the answer to problems. How he could change his basketball style for the better. Kuroko worked at it for weeks, three months even. When he finally decided he had his new style ready for use in a game, he came to Akashi. Walked right up to him and asked if he could demonstrate it in a game. Akashi agreed. It was a success.

And so, Kuroko was invited into the first-string. Akashi explained to him that he was looking for a sixth man, someone who could change the game, and Kuroko was that man. People called him the phantom sixth man. He was proud of his new position.

But, there was one problem with moving onto the first-string. The changing rooms.

You see, the third-string would change in the school bathrooms as there wasn’t enough room in the other changing rooms. Kuroko could hide in a cubicle and no one would ever know his secret. But now in the first-string, he was forced to change in their assigned changing rooms. He knew he was going to have to inform Captain Nijimura, or even Vice-Captain Akashi.

So, the day before his first practice with the first-string, he pulled Nijumura aside to talk to him.

Nijimura was surprised, said he “hadn’t even noticed”. Kuroko didn’t know whether to be relieved or upset? But Nijimura agreed, Kuroko did indeed have a dilemma. His captain assured Kuroko that he would be allowed to change first, without the other boys, as long as he got there early. Nijumura gave Kuroko the key, and smiled at him.

Kuroko wasn’t able to rise to his teammates skill level, but he didn’t mind. He excelled at something else. Everything was going great. Until Haizaki, one of his less-friendly teammates, had been kicked out of class early, and decided to head to the changing rooms early.

As a precautionary, Kuroko always locked the door once he was inside. But today, as he was opening the changing rooms, Haizaki brushed past him as he strutted through the doors. Kuroko didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t as though he could ask Haizaki to wait, that would definitely cause him to either lose his temper or ask questions. As a result, Kuroko just stood there dumbly, racking his mind of how he could fix this. Any minute then, the bell would go and the basketball team would come flooding through the hallway.

“What’re you doin’ just standin’ there huh?” Haizaki questioned aggressively, as if Kuroko had personally offended him.

 _‘Shit’_ He was in trouble now. Curse the changing rooms for not having doors on the showers. Kuroko waddled in nervously, clutching his bag strap even tighter. Maybe if he changed his shirt fast enough Haizaki wouldn’t even notice?

Kuroko nodded to himself, it wasn’t as though Haizaki cared about him. He even acknowledged his skill in passing enough to leave him alone. Kuroko changed as fast as he could, until he got to removing his shirt. Usually, when he played basketball, he would wear a tight-fitting sports bra for safety (he would rather wear his binder, but he really couldn’t afford to break a rib), with a baggy shirt. But now, he didn’t have enough time to change that _and_ his shirt. He would have to wear his binder while training, he would be fine as long as he didn’t push himself. In that moment, Kuroko had forgotten about his determination to prove himself to his teammates, that he belonged there just as much as they did.

Kuroko quickly changed his shirt, and it didn’t seem as if Haizaki noticed. He was busy tying up his shoes.

That night of training was especially hard. He could usually finish his assigned set of sprints around five minutes after the others, but it had already been ten minutes and he could tell his teammates were getting impatient. When he had completed them, he was severely winded.

At some point Aomine pulled him aside and asked him if he was feeling alright, a look of concern on his face. Kuroko assured him that he was fine, “I’m just a little tired, is all”

Aomine didn’t look convinced, but Kuroko paid him no mind as he got ready for the next set of drills.

There was only ten minutes of training left, but Akashi insisted on playing a practise match against second-string. Kuroko’s vision was beginning to blur, he just couldn’t seem to catch his breath. His chest hurt, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to bind for a while. He could ask Nijimura if he could sit out, but he refused to let his gender get in the way of his life.

Kuroko wanted to power through, but his body couldn’t take it and he collapsed.

 

-

 

“Kuroko, I’m sorry. I had to inform Akashi about your… situation”

That was the first sentence Kuroko heard after he woke up. He was in the school sick-bay, it had only been around thirty minutes since he lost consciousness.

“Oh… What did he say?” Kuroko asked, afraid his teammate and friend wouldn’t accept him.

“I was mad” Akashi spoke as he entered the room. Kuroko’s face paled.

Nijimura rolled his eyes, “Don’t worry Kuroko, he’s not mad at you for what you’re thinking” he assured, a knowing smile on his face.

“Oh?” Kuroko asked.

“Of course I don’t care about that sort of thing, I am mad that you participated in our intense training while wearing a binder! Why would you ever? Do you know how dangerous that is? Do you know how lucky you are that you didn’t break a rib?” Akashi ranted.

Nijimura was visibly holding back laughter as Akashi went on and on like an obsessed mother. Kuroko was slightly amused as well, he was relieved that Akashi took the news well, but also that he didn’t feel the need to be cautious around him. He treated him normally, well, with a lot of worry mixed in.

“I am sorry, Akashi-kun” Kuroko said, after Akashi had stopped speaking. Kuroko went on to explain the reason of why he was so careless, and Akashi nodded in understanding.

“If you’d like, and with your permission, I could explain the situation to coach and have him install some doors inside the changing rooms if it would make you more comfortable?” Akashi asked.

Kuroko shook his head, “No it’s quite alright. I will just be more careful in the future”

Akashi nodded, and even offered to give Kuroko a ride home. He wanted to refuse, but he decided he really needed the rest, so he agreed.

Kuroko decided not to mention how grateful he was when he arrived to school after the weekend to see the changerooms now had doors installed. Akashi didn’t mention the incident, and refused to disclose the reason to any curious members. Kuroko swore he could physically feel his heart swell with appreciation.

Kuroko decided to at least tell Aomine about it, as he was the closest with Kuroko. Surprisingly, he took it quite well, aside from him asking Kuroko if he still had boobs, to which Kuroko tripped Aomine in vengeance. Aomine apologised, actually taking on a serious demeanour to ask questions so he could avoid upsetting Kuroko, as he was ignorant to the subject. Kuroko was pleasantly surprised.

 

-

 

After the so called ‘incident’, Kuroko felt that he was even closer with his teammates. He had ended up outing himself, it was accidental, but none of the other first-string members really cared. He was grateful that none of them made a big deal. He thought that would be the end of it, but they all helped him in some way or another. Midorima would discreetly ask and make sure Kuroko was giving his chest a rest from the binding, Aomine would make sure he wasn’t wearing his binder during games or practice, Murasakibara would sometimes share his sweets if he noticed Kuroko having a bad day due to dysphoria, or any other reason. Akashi and Nijimura would correct anyone calling him by the wrong pronouns, whether Nijimura had to politely remind them, or Akashi had to intimidate them into apologising. Momoi was always polite to Kuroko, helping him dress more masculine when they hung out as a group on weekends.

At some point in their second year, Haizaki was kicked out of first-string, and a boy named Kise was introduced. Kuroko never formed an opinion on Haizaki, he was never rude when he realised that Kuroko wasn’t a cis-male. But Kuroko disliked the way he would skip practice, so he didn’t care all that much when he no longer attended training.

Kuroko was in charge of training Kise, showing how everything works. Kise seemed to look down on him, Kuroko wasn’t sure if it was because he wasn’t skilled at the conventional things a basketballer was skilled at, because of his lack of presence, or if he could tell he was transgender. Kuroko didn’t care about the first two things, he had already proved himself to the team, but having someone transphobic on the team could be very harmful.

Kuroko had a lot of anxiety about this new teammate.

 

-

 

Aomine was quite protective over Kuroko, always ~~physically beating~~ telling Kise off for not following Kuroko’s orders or suggestions.

It was Kuroko’s night to pack up the gym, and now Kise’s too. Kuroko tried to get Kise to help him, only so Akashi could lock up, but he seemed to not want to.

“I don’t want someone like _you_ to show me around” he said offhandedly. Kuroko tried reasoning with himself, Kise probably didn’t mean what Kuroko thought he meant. But there was always that what-if in his mind.

“Hey man, back off. Totally uncalled for” Aomine asserted, it sounded as if he thought the same as Kuroko.

“Kise. I will not stand for hate-speech in my gym, or even in my school” said Nijimura.

Kise seemed quite confused. “How is not liking someone’s lack of presence and talent hate-speech?” he asked genuinely.

Aomine made an “oh” face, they had taken what he said the wrong way.

“Don’t worry, Aomine-kun and Nijimura-san have taken what you said the wrong way. I will explain to you my situation a little later” he said as he tossed a ball into the basketball-bin.

Kise nodded, intrigued.

Aomine came along with Kuroko and Kise so that he could make sure if Kise was transphobic, Kuroko had someone to comfort him.

As it turns out, Kise was accepting of him, and even apologised if he said anything that Kuroko would have taken the wrong way. “If you ever need someone to talk to about this sort of stuff, you can come to me! My sister is trans male-to-female, so I’d like to think I’m a little more informed than the average teen” he said cheerily.

Kuroko felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his chest. At least Kuroko knew Kise didn’t have a problem with him being transgender. If Kise wouldn’t respect him because he hadn’t proved himself worthy of the first-string, and not because he was transphobic, then he could deal with that.

It was only a few days later that Akashi, as the new team captain, scheduled a practice match against another team, and Kuroko was able to gain Kise’s respect, thus earning the nickname ‘Kurokocchi’. Even Momoi seemed to warm up to him even more. Kuroko wasn’t exactly sure why, but he thought it could be something to do with him giving Momoi the winning ice-cream stick? He hoped she didn’t feel like she owed him or anything…

Ogiwara was extremely happy to hear that Kuroko was out to his friends, and they agreed to meet up at the next tournament.

Everything was perfect. He hoped it would stay perfect.

Spoiler alert, it wouldn’t.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed, please feel free to comment and kudos! It really gives me the drive to write more. I'll probably write more of this universe, so give me ideas!  
> My tumblr- trashczar.tumblr.com  
> I hadn't touched this document for weeks when I found it again, and I only just realised what I had named the document  
> (trans!kuroko best boy i love)


End file.
